"Red" Schoendienst's World Series bat, 1957

Milwaukee Braves World Series Bat

The Milwaukee Braves were already a good baseball team when Albert "Red" Schoendienst came in June of 1957. Schoendienst joined a team featuring future Hall of Famers Warren Spahn, Eddie Matthews and Henry Aaron, as well as a strong supporting cast that had nearly won the National League pennant in 1956. Many people consider Schoendienst the player who transformed the Braves from a competitive team in 1956 to World Champions in 1957. This bat, made by Hillerich and Bradsby Co. of Louisville, Kentucky, was issued to Schoendienst for the 1957 World Series. In the 1950s, before unlimited budgets for equipment, players received a handful of bats at the start of the season and for special All-Star or World Series appearances.